


I can't take this anymore

by Emily_F6



Series: Penny Parker Prompts [39]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Female Peter Parker, Gen, Hurt Peter Parker, Irondad, Penny Parker - Freeform, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-19 01:33:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29499618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emily_F6/pseuds/Emily_F6
Summary: Prompt: I can't take this anymoreorPenny wakes up in a strange hotel room with no memory of what happened.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Penny Parker Prompts [39]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1899553
Comments: 12
Kudos: 185





	I can't take this anymore

Penny's breaths came in painful, short pants, and she pressed her hands into the bed underneath her, eyes closing before she forced them open again. The room wasn't hers, she knew that much. And the walls...on the walls were paintings she'd never seen before. Motel art, she realized somewhere in the back of her addled mind. Her head hurt, and the world was spinning too quickly around her, but all she could do was lay there, staring at the walls and trying to remember what had happened. How she'd gotten here. But nothing came to mind. All she knew was that she was there, in what felt like a hotel, and her head was spinning. Or the world was spinning.

Forcing her head to turn, she stared at the nightstand and the phone and the bottles...alcohol bottles and pill bottles that she'd never seen before. As far as she knew, she'd never even tasted alcohol. May never drank at home and Mr. Stark was sober now, and she felt like neither one of them would ever have let her drink any, not even in a cool adult way where 'we'd rather you drink at home than go out than do something stupid.' Penny forced an arm out, fingers closing around something...not the phone. She'd been reaching for the phone. Instead, they clutched a piece of paper that she held up in a shaky hand. As the world started to go dark at the edges, she was able to make out the first line, written in a handwriting that looked almost like hers.

'I'm so sorry. I can't take this anymore.'

And then the world was dark. Far away. And she was gone.

She heard voices before she woke. Someone was screaming. She felt hands on her arms, fingers pressing into her wrist and neck with enough pressure to leave bruises. There was screaming too...screaming in a language she didn't recognize at first. A hand on her cheek, and the clink of glass bottles. Penny opened her mouth, or tried to, hoping to ask where she was or what was happening, but then a finger was pulling her eyelid up and a light was shining into her eye and she jerked, a pained cry escaping. Her voice was weak...soft. Completely unlike her.

"Can you hear me? Miss?" A woman she didn't know spoke firmly, the voice of a professional. Who? A doctor? Was she hurt? Was she sick? Was Mr. Stark there? Or May? Had she gotten hurt on patrols? That would explain some of it...but not all of it.

"Wha...what happened?" she asked, the words garbled and painful. It hurt to speak. It hurt to open her eyes. It hurt to breathe...to exist. But that didn't matter. She had to know what had happened.

"Miss, can you tell me your name?" the woman demanded, and Penny had to think for a moment.

"I'm...I'm Penny. Per...Park...Park'r. I don't...know...what happened…" She blinked, shivering when something cold touched her skin. She knew the word...disk attached to something put in the woman's ears and...and nothing made sense. Where was she? Who was this woman? It wasn't Helen. Helen was the doctor that helped her. Shouldn't her doctor be Helen? "I don't know where...where I am…"

"Penny? Penny, I need you to stay with me…" The words faded away, just like the room and the world that spun too quickly, and her eyes closed, head dropping back onto the pillow, shuddering as she was moved onto something.

Someone was crying. Sobbing. A hand gripping hers. A hand on her cheek. Whispers and murmuring and constant beeping that drove her nuts, but for the longest time all she could do was lay there. Her stomach hurt...her whole body was strangely sore. Had she gotten hurt as Spider-Girl? She couldn't remember it if she had. She remembered...a motel. Generic wall art. Bottles. A piece of paper. Groaning, she tried to roll over, goraning again when her arm stuck fast. She felt her eyes narrow as she tugged at whatever held her arm, brain struggling to figure out what was going on.

"Baby?" A hand touched her cheek and she tried to open her eyes. Tried to wake up! Why couldn't she wake up? She couldn't make her mind think! "Penny? Can you hear me?"

"May? May why...why can't I…" She whimpered, fighting whatever it was that was wrapped around her wrist. "May?"

"It's okay, baby. Calm down. You're okay." May's hand brushed her hair back, her thumb pressed against her temple. "I"m here. You're safe."

Her eyes opened then, and she managed to sit up a little, eyes darting to her wrists where two padded cuffs held her fast to the bed. "What...what's...May?" Heart racing, she shook her head. May wouldn't do this. May wouldn't tie her down. Where was May? Who was this?

"Baby, it's okay. I promise. I know you're hurting…" the woman claiming to be her aunt started, but Penny refused to listen.

"No...no, let me...let me go!" She yanked her hands then, one of the chains snapping under her strength. Her voice was strong now. A shrill scream. "Let me go!"

"Penny!" Mr. Stark's voice came from the hall and he hurried into the room, his hands landing on her shoulders. "It's okay. You're okay. Deep breaths, kiddo."

That was Mr. Stark...right? She knew Mr. Stark but why was she tied down? Was that really May? Was she hallucinating or something? Where was she?

"Why am I chained to the bed? What's going on?" She felt tears fill her eyes as he stared at her, his own eyes red rimmed and underscored by dark purple bruises. "What's going on? What happened?" Penny felt tears run down her cheeks as she pleaded with him, her head throbbing in time with her heartbeat. He swallowed hard, eyes darting down to the chain dangling from her wrist.

"You're okay," He murmured again, trying for a smile. "You're going to be fine."

"What are you talking about? What happened?" She took stock quickly, bending her toes under the covers and twitching her fingers. Everything worked, and apart from a throbbing headache and the lingering dizziness, she felt fine. No worse than after a bad patrol...hell, better than she felt after a bad patrol. And, she thought, her stomach kind of hurt. But not as bad as that time she'd been hit with a piece of lead pipe by a guy selling fake drugs.

"You...you don't remember?" Mr. Stark asked, his voice soft and concerned.

She shook her head, wiping at her eyes with the hand she'd yanked free. Beside her, May was silent. Still. But after a long pause, she was the one to speak up. "Do you remember writing this?" There was a rustle of paper, and then May was holding something out to her. The paper...she remembered a piece of paper. Taking it, her eyes drifted first to the circular stain in the corner, as though someone had set a dirty cup on top of it. But then she focused on the words.

'I'm so sorry. I can't take this anymore. I love you both so much…' Penny's eyes darted across the paper, reading the words with a sinking heart. It...it was a suicide note.

"No...no, I didn't…"

"It's okay, baby. I know that…"

"No!" Penny interrupted her aunt, shaking her head and looking back and forth between her and Mr. Stark. "I didn't write this! I wouldn't...please, you have to believe me!" She grabbed Mr. Stark's wrist in a bruising grip. "I didn't write that! I don't know what happened! But I didn't try to kill myself."

He stared at her, something sad in his eyes. He didn't believe her. Closing her eyes, she felt the tears spill over as she dropped the note on the bed, her head still spinning. Why was she so tired? Hadn't she been sleeping? "I didn't do it." Her words were weak, a pained whisper, and Mr. Stark eased her back down on the pillow, brushing her hair out of her eyes, then slipping the cuff off of one arm, and then the other.

"Get some rest, kiddo. We'll be here when you wake up, okay?"

Penny wanted to argue...to insist that she was fine. Instead, she let him pull the blankets up to her chin, his fingers raking gently through her hair. And she slept.

When she woke again, she couldn't figure out how long she'd been asleep. The curtains were drawn, and beside her bed was a pitcher of ice water. She stared at it, trying to push herself up to her elbows when a hand rested on her back, helping her sit upright. She glanced over, and in the dark, Mr. Stark was pouring her a glass of water. Penny took it, drinking in silence, and once she was done, he spoke, his voice soft and serious in a way he rarely spoke to her anymore.

"I need you to tell me the truth."

Penny gripped the cup, looking around the room for May, then turning back to him. "I didn't try to kill myself."

"You won't be in trouble. I promise. I get it. I've been there. Hell...I've...I've been exactly...there. If you need help, we'll get it for you. If you need some time off school, I'll make it happen. Whatever you need. But I need you to be honest with me."

"I didn't try to kill myself, Mr. Stark," she whispered, putting the cup down and reaching out for him, her fingers closing around his wrist. He rested his hand on hers, looking deep into her eyes in the dimly lit room. "I didn't do it. I promise. I woke up in this hotel room and...and I didn't know how I got there. And...and someone was screaming." She felt a tear drip down her cheek but didn't bother wiping it away. "I don't know what happened."

The man nodded, scooting forward, then standing and sitting on her bed and wrapping his arms around her, pressing his lips to her hair. "Alright, kiddo. Don't cry. I believe you."

Hiding her face in his shoulder, Penny gripped the back of his t-shirt, feeling relief rush over her. He believed her. She knew it didn't look good...she knew that the evidence was stacked against her. But he believed her. And that was all that mattered.

"We're going to figure out what happened, okay?"

She nodded, hands stuck fast to him.

Pulling back just a little, he wiped a tear from her cheek, giving her a gentle smile full of the same relief she felt. "I'll go get May and tell her what's going on. It's going to be okay."

And, since he was Iron Man and since he was Mr. Stark, she believed him. Without reservation.

_**Thanks for reading!** _


End file.
